Breaking Concrete Blocks

[JohnD]

Hello

I have, as part of a soil erosion system, some 55 gal drums filled with concrete. I am interested in finding out how I might break some of them up into small chunks. Any thoughts?

John

[Don]

Sledge hammer.

[Ivan]

d-y-n-0-M-I-T-E !!!!!!

[Joe Zimmerman]

Rent a jack hammer from home depot if you have a lot to do... If it's only one or two drums, you could try a sledgehammer first.

[Joseph Meehan]

Do you mean the 55 gal drums were filled with concrete and now you want to break it up?

I once had a 4ft x 4ft block of concrete. After a lot of work I found it easier to dig a large hole and dump it in. I wonder what someone in the future will think of that chunk of concrete if they ever try to dig there.

[JohnD]

Not sure if this is a serious answer, but there are a total of 100 55 gal blocks of concrete, I think I would rather use a tool.

Is a rotary hammer enough tool? Jackhammer?

[Jim Elbrecht]

With 100 of them think you'd be better off finding someone who wants them as they are.

Jim

[default]

A sledge hammer would probably be nearly as quick as a jackhammer, and only mildly more effort. either way, it's going to be a pain.

I think you should sell the damn things on EBAY as mooring blocks, hitching-posts, traffic-barriers, and, with plywood monkeys, as lawn art for stupid people. Then use the money to buy crushed rock.

I don't suppose you've got a convenient cliff to shove them off? that would probably do it..

[JohnD]

They are on the bank on the shore of lake Erie, some on the beach, some higeher up in a crumbling, makeshift erosion-control wall. If I want to move them - how would I do it?

[Stormin Mormon]

Religious shrine? Sash window counterweight? Bicycle for a drunk? Undigested pill? Fishing sinker for ocean fish? Jimmy Hoffa's ashes?

[ameijers]

OOPs, shoulda kept your mouth shut about the location. Waterfront, especially CoE- overseen waterfront, opens up a BIG can'o'worms. I'd almost bet you have to get state and/or federal permits to make ANY changes that could have any plausible effect on the beachfront erosion zones like that. They don't want upstream and downstream effects from changing waterflow patterns caused by caving shorelines, or anything that may cause land-based stuff to migrate into the water.

Yeah, I know, its just a bunch of conrete blocks. You should have just dug a hole uphill of the high water mark and buried them. But if you are hiring out the work to put in something prettier, they will insist on permits to cover their butts, in all likliehood.

Time to call an engineer and cry for your soon-to-be-empty wallet.

aem sends.....

[Jim Elbrecht]

My first instinct was that you could sell them [give them away] to someone who needed some erosion control & they'd figure out how to move them.

If they are on the shores of Erie then *you* are probably the one who needs some erosion control.

I have to echo the thoughts of aem. . . you might have some legal hoops to jump through to do anything near the shores of one of the big lakes.

But back to your first question. If your time is worth nothing then, yes, you *could* break them up with a light jackhammer. [When you mention 'rotary hammer or jackhammer' I'm guessing you're thinking of something light like the Bosch 11305] Just a wild guess, but I'll bet that breaking a single drum sized piece of concrete into chunks [chips] could easily take 4 hours with that tool. Bigger, heavier hammers would shorten the job-- but raise the expense & toll it will take on your body.

How many do you need to break up or move? I'd think I'd be thinking of levers & where I could use them in the immediate area.

Jim [BTW- at the other end of the Erie canal near Schenectady]

[default]

Barrel-henge.

[JohnD]

I am always amazed when ani leave these sorts of "answers" - I guess I shouldn't be.

[Geoman]

John, I use to live on Cedar Point in Sandusky Ohio. We had many of the same problems you are speaking of. We had to take out permits with the core of engineers IF we added to our dry water line when we fixed our soil erosion. What you want to do I can't believe you need a permit for. Doing work for the Corp's in Huron's dredge substation and knowing some of the guys, I don't think what your describing the Corps would care to even come out for, but I'm no longer up on the issue. At Cedar Point WE had to put boulders on the beach banks or loose our homes, the Corps didn't give a rats care about it. They just want to make sure you don't steal extra land and that you don't change the currents. If your action would cause however erosion to other places, that's something different. But as you mentioned, this was a 'makeshift' wall.

Now, as to breaking them up, if they are blocks, use a chisel and a 7 or ten pound sledge. Wear goggles and gloves. They make chisels by the way that have a covering over the end where the hammer hits, this will protect your hand if you miss. Go for the mortar area and hit it pretty good, the block will most likely separate from the others one at a time.

[JohnD]

Thanks a lot for your answer. I should have drawn a clearer picture of the "wall" - it is made up of the concrete barrels, some still encased, in a rather crappy-looking pile up the bank. My idea was to break them up into smaller chunks and/or put in rebar somehow and spray with concrete to make a more monolithic structure. An alternative was to break them up and use the chunks in gabions - those mesh-encased blocks of stones. I searched but could find no books dealing with erosion projects, outside one $600 offering dealing with riprap.

John

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[Jim Elbrecht]

That sounds to me like your best bet. Drilling 1/2 or 3/4 inch holes

6-12" deep shouldn't be too hard & then epoxy some rebar in and have at it. *Way* easier than trying to break them up & move them.

Isn't there a 'Lake Erie Co-op' or something that might have some thoughts?

Jim

[JohnD]

Thanks Jim

Any thoughts on the tool that this would require? Is a circa $500 rotary hammer enough? I am looking at shotcrete as a possible material.

John

[Jim Elbrecht]

That sounds like overkill to me-- but I wouldn't be at that point yet.

If you like the idea of shotcrete then give the local guy a call & ask him to come look at it see how many & how big your holes have to be. [And if it is really feasible to do the job that way. He'll know your codes, your climate & your geography better than anyone who isn't standing there.]

Then ask what he'll charge to do the prep work-- and how much you would save if you do it yourself. [and if he'll even shoot a job that you've prepped. He might not- and we can't blame him as this will be the most important step & he's going to be guaranteeing the job.]

Once you've got him to that point, if he'll shoot your base, ask what he'd suggest using. By then he'll know exactly what you're drilling & how many holes you need to drill.

Jim

[JohnD]

Thanks Jim - you have been a big help in thinking this through. I will seek out a local sprayer.

John